A MAN'S life was saved by the intervention of the town's Marine Watch when he attempted to jump from Wexford Bridge.

'There is no doubt that they saved the man's life,' said a garda spokesman.

He said members of the Marine Watch, who were patrolling the quays, discovered the man on the bridge at around 11 p.m. last Monday.

'He had left his property on the bridge and was preparing to jump.. they talked him down and held on to him until gardai arrived,' said the spokesman.

'He had been pretty intent on jumping.'

Following his rescue, the man was treated by a doctor.

The garda spokesman said he was not aware of what had prompted the man's attempt to jump.

Wexford MarineWatch was established in December 2012 to try and combat a long epidemic of suicides in the Wexford Harbour and Bridge areas – one of the longest bridges in Ireland today at over 580 metres.

Most of these people are not recovered in time and get swept away by the very strong tidal flows in the Harbour. This often results in drawn out lengthy searches, sometimes without success – resulting in distress for the families, the relatives, the search teams and the wider community.

So far at least a dozen people from been prevented from going into the water from the Quays and bridge by Marine Watch patrols.